Packed up in boxes
by Lexham-Chan
Summary: Emil and his family suddenly set of The States for a new beginning, but the young Icelander finds difficulty packing his former life up in boxes and starting again.
1. Chapter 1

"Emil?" the teacher's voice cut through the thick, heavy silence in the classroom. "Emil? Mr. Andersson?"

Emil's mind was now back in the classes activities, previously, only moments ago, his mind was wondering in the thick fog of his homeland, with lush grass that grew long and wild in acres and acres of uninhabited land.

"What? I mean, _Excuse me sir_?" He said quietly, trying to make his accent less noticeable.

"I said I hope you have a good year here at the Academy." Mr. Kirkland smiled.

Emil forced a smile back, too shy to reply to anything but a nearly silent "Thank you."

The class finished in what felt like hours, and Emil hurried out. He felt nervous. The school had too many people, and was much too crowded. It wasn't like his old school; they had well under a thousand. But now it was most likely double, maybe _triple _the size. The butterflies in his stomach refused to settle, much to his disappointment.

He gripped the handle of his brown school bag._ Where was that stupid-_

"Hej." He heard a voice call behind him. He swung around. "How's your first day, kiddo?"

Mathias, leaning on the door of his red Ferrari, waved at Emil with too much enthusiasm. Emil didn't know if he was mad or glad to see the Dane. Sure, he was loud, annoying and had an ego the size of a large blimp, but he had uses. He could drive Emil home from school if he got off work early enough. And well, quite frankly, that was about it.

"Dan. It was barely a day. I was only here for the second half of it." Emil said as he threw himself inside the car and onto a showy leather seat.

"Aw. That's so cute. Ice's first day! Your big Bro is so proud!" Mathias chimed, enjoying the fact that Emil was blushed red with embarrassment.

Emil looked out the students going across the pedestrian crossing. It made him feel quiet uneasy, seeing no familiar faces. He was all alone here.

He let his mind wonder again, not to the same place as in class, but to his old house in Denmark. It was quiet and out of the way, placed just on the outskirts of Copenhagen. It had one story, with enough bedrooms to house at least six, and was made of wood and brick.

He had become attached to the house in some way, living there since he was eight.

The news about the move to the States came abruptly, catching Emil off guard. His oldest 'Brother', Berwald had got a job in America and planned on moving in a month's time.

He was a doctor, and brilliant at what he did. A number of American Hospitals were desperate to employ the Swede, but he only chose one place, mainly for the fact it had many other jobs available in the area for the other people in the family and had an Academy nearby.

"How was the school? Like, the classes and stuff?" Mathias yelled over the roaring stereo. At some time in the ride Mathias had put on a pair of dark sunglasses (That _he_ probably thought made him look sexy but In Emil's opinion he looked foolish).

"Big, I guess." Emil shrugged. He looked at Mathias. "Why wasn't Brother there? He was going to talk to the teachers or something?"

"He wanted you to go first before he set foot in the place. To see what it's like."

"What?" Emil shouted in surprise, "He sent me here without him so I could be… A _test dummy_?"

"Pretty much!" Mathias laughed, patting Emil with one hand and still managing to steer with the other.

They drove smoothly up their new driveway.

The house, to Emil, was a haven in comparison to his old one. It was made entirely of dark wood, double storied, and surrounded with giant oaks and wild bush.

When he first arrived, he fully expected to see a house that he would despise. He enjoyed the new house. But he couldn't tell Lukas that.

Mathias swung the door open and ran inside. "My lovely!" he bellowed, "Where are you, my sweet?"

He ran up to where Lukas was crouching beside the oven and gave him a forced embrace.

"Did you miss me?" He gleamed with joy even when Lukas pried himself from Mathias' grasp.

"You," Lukas said in a plain monotone, "Are an idiot."

He turned to His younger brother and stared for a moment. He didn't smile, nor did he frown. He just had the same emotionless expression that he always had painted on his face.

Lukas pushed the Dane further away from his personal space and said "Emil, you're home. I'm glad."

_You don't look glad. _Emil thought.

"Is the Academy as big as the pictures I saw on the website?"

"Yeah, but I felt real stupid being there. My accent sounds weird." Emil said, switching back to Danish.

"English, please." Lukas corrected his way of speech, "You won't get better if you keep speaking _Danish_."

"Lukas is right! Speak more English, Ice." As if on cue, Tino came pacing down the stair carrying a phone in his hand.

Tino was a short Finnish boy, only eighteen, but graduated even before Mathias and Berwald. He was currently studying at a nearby university (about something like law that Emil didn't _really _understand) about a ten minutes drive from the Academy.

"Oh Ice! You look so cute in your new uniform!" Tino walked over, straightening the white ribbon tied limply around his blouse collar.

Emil, no matter what clothes he was wearing, would appear scruffy. His uniform looked slept in, you'd expect he'd never used a comb, and his blouse was infested with cringles from only one day of school.

"It needs a little ironing," Said Lukas, running his hand down the front of his younger brother's blouse. "Or maybe a lot."

Emil did the typical teenage eye roll and took a tired leap onto the couch. He felt like he could sleep right there and then, he was so exhausted. It had been nearly two years since he had attended a real public school. It was so different to him, as if he had never been to a real school in the first place.

A blanket of light covered him with pleasing warmth.

For the first time since he stepped foot on a plane bound for The United States of America, he felt homesick. The House, his friends, Danish food, and the accents were thousands of miles away. What if he had refused to leave? If he had tied himself to a bedpost in protest or something, surely Lukas would have decided to let him stay. What if he could have made them stay and missed the chance?

He could feel the warmth of the sun through the window suddenly disappearing as something blocked the rays.

"You're not falling asleep _there_ are you?" Lukas said, towering over his sibling like a skyscraper.

"'Course not." Emil scoffed turning away from his brother to gaze out into nothing.

"You should go up stairs to unpack. I want it at least half done by tomorrow." Lukas commanded.

"No." Emil replied simply.

"I'll sit on you." His brother warned.

Emil locked eyes with his brother. "You wouldn't dare."

Lukas cheekily raised his eye brow. "Would I?"

Mathias watched in amusement as the two had a stare-off until one of them cracked.

"Oh no," Tino whimpered, "They won't fight again, will they?"

"Nah, it's just brotherly love!" Mathias laughed, placing a heavy hand on the Finn's shoulder. "I think."

By the time they looked back Emil had risen from where he was laying and was on his way to the stairs.

"I'm going to unpack some boxes. Not because Lukas told me too. I feel like it." Emil stated.

"_Sure._" Mathias said before the youngest household member had departed from the room.

"Don't be a tease." Lukas said, casting a glare of 'hate' toward the taller man.

Mathias stretched out his arm and wrapped it around the Norwegian's waist, pulling him into his chest.

"Mathias. Don't touch me." Lukas sighed, thinking how he ended up in a relationship with such a great big oaf.

"Shh. Icy isn't here," He whispered into his ear, "No need to protect his innocence…"

Lukas struck a fist into his gut, knocking the breath out of the Dane. Mathias doubled over in a mix of coughs for breath and high pitched laughter.

"I told you." Lukas shook his finger in the air, turning around with a box of plates to unpack, "Don't do that now… Do that _later_."

Emil laid spread out on his bed, in a daze between slumber and consciousness. Boxes littered the room waiting to be opened and the contents to be put in their rightful places. An empty bookcase stood bare in the corner, soon to be filled with a large variety of novels, comics, and magazines.

The Icelander tossed and turned. His was mind full of loud thoughts that invaded the sweet silence of the bedroom.

Did his friends miss him at all? He didn't really miss any of them, except for-

'_No. I mustn't think of that. I've left all of that behind._'He reassured himself.

He opened his eyes to stare aimlessly at the ceiling above him. He had a new ceiling, a new house, and a new country.

"It's a brand new beginning." Lukas had said. "A new start's good for everyone."

"_A new beginning is good for everyone." _he thought, shaking his head_. …Maybe not for me._


	2. Chapter 2

"Please don't tell me you're going to be wearing that to school again?" Arthur Kirkland, the self-proclaimed gentlemen stared over the rim of his tea cup at Kaoru of who slouched carelessly in front of him. He folded the newspaper he was reading into four equal folds, and then placed it on the flower print cloth that blanketed the kitchen table.

"So?" Kaoru snapped back at his father, pulling the red jacked tighter around his chest. "What of it?"

"It's not part of the _uniform regulation_. Have you read the school rules? What on earth would your mother think if I, as an English teacher, let you bend such a law?"

_He's acting all posh again._ Kaoru sighed. _He's such a stickler to the rules. I doubt he ever was a teenager._

"Well, fine." The boy huffed. "I'll take it off. Happy?"

"Then I'm very happy." He disappeared behind the newspaper that he unfolded once again. "You'd better head for school then. If you want to walk everyday like you said, then you have to make sure you start up early. I won't tolerate lateness in _my_ class."

The key rings on Kaoru's backpack jingled as he pulled it over his shoulder and headed for the door that lead out to the front lawn. He wandered off without as much as a goodbye, reluctantly shuffling along the pavement like he was heading toward a prison rather than an Academy.

It sure felt that way.

"Hey. Hey!" Someone far off yelled.

He wasn't surprised to have his adopted bother to come out of the blue and interrupt his peaceful thoughts; he guessed it was just another gift of having a brother. Even though they were so different from each other, the two always seemed to get along without too many problems or disagreements. Well, Most of the time.

The fast footsteps came sprinting across the pavement, along with a large amount of undecipherable words spewed out from behind him.

"I swear to god, I can't even rely on you to wait for me to get up in the morning!" The other boy ran up to Kaoru and paused to catch his breath. After all, he'd been running the last three streets to catch up with his less than interested sibling.

Kaoru brushed back his dark brown hair, shrugged, and didn't slow down for his brother.

"I couldn't wait for you. There is a reason, but I mustn't tell you. You might tell." Kaoru lied and placed a finger over his mouth as if it was really a secret not to be told.

"Oh!" Yong suu jumped on the spot in delight, "I won't tell! I promise, Tell me and my lips will be sealed!"

"Well, maybe." Kaoru shrugged again, smiling at how gullible his brother was. "Lean in close. Yeah, that's it. Closer! Lend me your ear, will you?"

"Come on." Yong suu was dead serious, "Tell me."

"Are you sure?" Kaoru Whispered.

"Yes! Tell me for God's sake, tell me!" Yong suu squealed.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll tell you."

"Great." said Yong suu, his tone of voice dripping with sarcasm. "Tell me anytime now."

"I'll tell you" He paused in effect, "… later." Kaoru ran off at his top speed, turning around the streets turns and bends, laughing manically all the way.

Yong suu stood in a confused silence for a number of moments before coming to his senses and running after him in something between rage and stupidity.

"God damn you!" Yong suu shook his fist like an angered old man. "Once I get my hands on you, you'll be sorry!"

The Academy sat between old oaks and Maple trees, and the leaves that fell during autumn littered the grounds with a display of dark and light natural colours. It was large school that held just under three thousand, with a number of class rooms that remained empty or contained boxes of textbooks too many years out of date.

Some of the buildings contained in the school were twenty odd years old, while other were only finished being built three or four years before. Quite few of these old and slightly run down places had some club activity, but only those who had the commitment to give plenty of tender love and care, for they weren't the most pleasing to the eye (Of which that had peeling paint, rusty and not very trustable chairs, scratched chalkboards and often layers upon layers of cobwebs).

The exterior, in whole, was taken care of frequently. The school counsel took some pride in this, taking under consideration every littler bin and mowed lawn until it was perfection of aesthetic beauty.

Unfortunately not a lot of the students gave much interest towards any of that.

The majority of the students attending the Academy had a lazy 'I'll do it later' attitude, which remained unchanged by every attempt by the principal and teacher alike. Slacking off was widely acknowledged as the norm, as was skipping a day of mildly difficult school work to stalk aimlessly around the streets of the city acting like they had a reason to be there. Kaoru and Yong suu both had done this the previous day.

"Jesus!" yelled Yong suu, "Last night I was scared out of my wits. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Dad to come in and rip my head off!"

Kaoru was staring out at his fellow classmates reluctantly enter the Academy's gates.

"Hey! Are you even listening? It's like I'm talking to a brick wall." He groaned, pulling on Kaoru's arm.

"What?" Kaoru snapped immediately out of his daydream state and faced his brother

"So you've come back to earth then? Congratulations, space cadet." Yong suu said sarcastically. "I was saying how-"

"You were scared about Arthur, I get it." He interrupted, "And if it gives you any relief, He came and talked to me yesterday night about how he doesn't want us skipping classes anymore. He said that we did it too much a year and that its time to buckle down and concentrate on our school work."

"Oh." Yong suu said. "Are we _gonna buckle down and concentrate on our school work_?"

"No." Kaoru replied simply.

They neither of them showed any sign of uncertainty on the decision, both being used to the idea of disobeying whatever their Father said.

"Still," Yong suu sighed, "You could have told me earlier that he talked to you. Maybe then I would have gotten more sleep. I'm knackered."

"Sleep in Health class or something." Kaoru shrugged, beginning to lose interest and stare off into nothingness. "Mrs. Héderváry doesn't notice things like he students falling asleep or passing notes, she kind of blanks out in the middle of important stuff and tells us to talk amongst ourselves."

"_OMG_! There are my two favourite _BFF_s!" And there he stood, Feliks Łukasiewicz, as if he had popped out of thin air.

Feliks was a very loud Polish boy (His gender was often debatable) of whom everyone seemed to befriend, and at that time he was placed in the direct pathway of the two teenagers.

To both of their amazement, Feliks was in fact equipped trousers. Often the teachers looked down at him with hateful eyes because he often arrived wearing a skirt, which caused an outrage with the school faculty. Eventually, the rest of the students with their laid back attitude told the adults that the fact he felt entitled to dress that way it didn't affect their learning. It also helped that Feliks was friends with everyone so three thousand people were watching his back.

"Where were you guys yesterday!" Feliks asked while texting impossibly fast on his cell phone, "Everyone thought you were skipping again! It was such an _LOL_."

"We _were_." Kaoru, unlike all the other all the students he knew, couldn't stand how Feliks spoke. He hated when people wrote in text speak, let alone actually using it in _actual_ speech.

"_ROFL_! That's totally awesome! But I bet your Dad and the homeroom teacher will be totally pissed!" Feliks laughed along with Yong suu, who seemed to tolerate Feliks much more than he did.

Even till this day no student, teacher or caretaker knew That Kaoru and Yong suu were related in any way to Mr. Kirkland, The bossy strict teacher who taught English at the Academy (He was baffled to the fact that no one figured it out; Even if they didn't look that much alike, the surname must have been a giveaway).

Kaoru slowly and silently stalked behind the other two students in the direction of the classroom.

He was already planning excuses to tell to his parents for the next time he decided to skip class.


	3. Chapter 3

"Get up, for God's sake." Lukas leaned over the bedside to give a disapproving look to his brother. "Don't make me count to five."

Emil groaned and shielded his face from the bright light that leapt out from behind the curtains. "I'm not a child. Don't treat me like one."

"One." Lukas said.

"You're kidding." Emil mumbled into the pillow.

"Two." His voice became more irritated. Emil didn't bother to reply. "Three, and then four. Five comes next, you know that, little brother?"

"What happens when you get to five? Are you going to kill me or something?" Emil sighed, turning over to face the window and scowl at the cherry birds that sang _too_ loud, _too_ early in the morning.

"I kill you? Maybe," Lukas shrugged. "Or I could sick my Dane on you. He can get you up, or maybe join you under the covers-"

"Jesus, I'll be up in a minute. I'm going to get dressed so get your arse out of here." Emil shifted uncomfortably under the stare of the Norwegian and the thought of a loud shameless Dane with him in the same bed.

"Rude little brother." Lukas shook his head, walking with the sound of the wooden floor boards creaking beneath him. "You didn't you get that from _me_."

Emil took all his strength to sit up. The second day of school wasn't going to be as simple as the adults in the house made it out to be.

School, this, to every teenager's dismay, contained Homework, Teachers, Exams, and cliques. Parents think that students come and silently and obediently learn valuable life lessons. How wrong they are.

Emil winced as his bare feet made contact with the cold wooden floor. Slowly slipping on his uniform, he made his way down the stairs quietly, hoping not to draw attention to himself. Being unnoticed was very valuable in the household, Emil preferred that he wasn't the person everyone kept an eye out for, being the youngest it was hard to avoid.

"ICEY!" Mathias screamed like he hadn't seen him in years. "Take a seat! It's bacon for breakfast! Well, it _would_ be if a certain Finnish guy actually could _cook_ it fast enough."

Tino, who was slaving over the hot oven, was equipped with only a pan and a spatula. He was staring intensely at the sizzling bacon, poking and prodding until it was good enough to eat.

"I'm working on it." Tino said through gritted teeth. "The damn thing won't cook. Berwald, can I have some help, _please_?"

A man (more or less the height in comparison of a Sasquatch) came and gently fetched the spatula from the younger man's hand.

"Berwald." He smiled. "Thank you."

Berwald was tall, blond (like the others who inhabited the household), with a single pair of clear black rimmed glasses perched up on his nose.

"D'nt m'nti'n it." He grumbled with a thick accent mixed with a rough voice.

"Don't make that Swede cook it!" Mathias moaned, banging his utensils on the tabletop in aggravated protest. "He's too dumb."

"He's not dumb." Tino folded his arms across his chest. "He's a _doctor_."

"So? Is he gonna give the bacon the _Heimlich_manoeuvre or something?" Mathias Retorted.

"D'nt tease 'm" Berwald warned Mathias.

Emil took the seat next to his brother, mimicking Lukas' stone-faced expressing like he didn't care about the situation at hand.

"Whatcha gonna do, Berwald? The doctor's gonna hurt me, I'm so scared!" Mathias said sarcastically, throwing his arms in the air like he was surrendering, "Please don't hurt me!"

"Guys, don't start." Tino rubbed his temples.

"I can hit them, if you'd like that?" Lukas offered.

"No, none of that. I'm completely opposed to violence of any sort." Tino replied.

Emil looked unsure. "What about the _rifle collection_ you never talk about-"

"Bacon's ready!" Tino screamed, slamming it on the table and interrupting Emil. "Everyone eat up! No more talking!"

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to school?" Lukas leaned over Emil as he tied on his school shoes.

Emil picked up his bag for one last check that he had all his school books. He'd look like a dumb arse if he forgot something on his real first day.

"I'll be right." Emil said.

"It's cold out." Lukas replied quickly, hoping to change his mind. "You might get sick again."

"You're a worrywart." Emil smiled, turning his back to him. "I'm not going to get sick. I'll be careful."

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yes." Emil rolled his eyes.

"Are you _sure_ in a very _sure_ way?" Emil could feel Lukas' eyes burn the back of his skull as he said it.

"Yes. Stop being so paranoid"

"Are you-"

"If you say 'sure' one more time I'll smack you over the head with my school bag." Emil said, holding up the bag to insure him he wasn't joking. "I'm off."

"Be careful little brother. I love you." Lukas patted his head with all the affection he could handle.

"That was cheesy and inappropriate." Emil blushed and turned away.

"I'm your _brother_." He said with his casual straight face, pointing at his face sternly, "Get used to it."

Emil stood at the gates, mentally assuring himself he was going to have an adequate year at the Academy. His class was on the second floor in of _C block_, a lightly coloured building in the middle of the grounds. At least, that's what the pictures on the Academy website had instructed.

He found his eyes wondering over to a classroom they lay forgotten at the heart of the grounds. Its square rooftop was cornered by three brightly coloured wire fences, standing at about three or four meters. One of the side of the roof remained without a fence like the others. The colours of the fences screamed out poor attempts to bring cheer to such a gloomy place, but, whatever angle you look at it, school isn't the most aesthetically pleasing in the eyes of any student.

"Are you lost, little one?" A voice sang at Emil.

The boy was taller than Emil, a senior, with flowing blond hair that he wore down below his ears. He practically gave off waves of confidence. He strolled over with his head held high, keeping pride and certainty, not unlike Emil's brother. It made him shudder.

Emil opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He nodded his head lightly.

"Don't worry." The boy purred. "It will be my pleasure to escort you to your destination."

Emil nodded slowly, wondering about his intentions with him.

"I am Françis Bonnefoy." He did a little bow as if he had done some great performance.

"Emil Andersson." He stuck out his hand for an expected 'awkward Emil handshake' but was then surprised at Françis' action of grabbing his hand a placing his lips on his knuckles for a gentle kiss.

"It truly is great to meet you." Françis grinned.

"Charming." Emil whispered sarcastically. This guy made him feel far less than settled. Then again, this whole place was horribly unsettling.

"Where do you hail from, little one?" The senior asked, his voice clearly holding a French accent.

Emil shuddered. It was either the creepy senior coming out of nowhere or the freezing morning weather, but the atmosphere was definitely cold.

"Denmark." Emil said simply. Trying to ignore once again the 'little one' comment "But, I'm not Danish. I only lived there for a while."

"Denmark..." Françis stretched the syllables and made them sound like something fancy, "Interesting. I've never met someone from Denmark before at this school."

"I'm not_ Danish_." He reminded him.

Françis laughed and patted Emil on the back and gestured him towards a path leading off to C and D block. "Right this way, little one."


End file.
